Purina Beneful?????????????????

**Lescoop77** · 09-29-2006, 10:56 AM

Does your son eat feces? Sorry, I couldn't resist. You make a valid point but I think every dog owner has their preference. Think about the old days, when dogs ate whatever you fed them, lived on a farm with hardly any vet visits, no heartguard, frontline, or even vaccine shots.....my grandma's dog lived to be like 20 years old..no joke. My neighbors outside dog is like this and is 16 years old.

**bckrazy** · 09-29-2006, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by Lescoop77

Does your son eat feces? Sorry, I couldn't resist. You make a valid point but I think every dog owner has their preference. Think about the old days, when dogs ate whatever you fed them, lived on a farm with hardly any vet visits, no heartguard, frontline, or even vaccine shots.....my grandma's dog lived to be like 20 years old..no joke. My neighbors outside dog is like this and is 16 years old.

Eating feces is most often an obsessive habit. It isn't for nutritional purposes. My dogs have never even considered eating poop

Dogs on farms were Raw-fed either completely or mostly, in the old days. They didn't eat a diet consisting of food coloring, corn syrup, fillers & starches (referring to Beneful here...).

Last but not least, old age does not necessarily mean quality of life. I know people with a 16 year-old Yorkie who is blind, has no teeth, and is crippled by arthritis but they still spend thousands on the dog and have for the past 3-4 years. I'd rather have healthy dogs that die at a reasonable age.

**coco-bean** · 09-29-2006, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by bckrazy

Last but not least, old age does not necessarily mean quality of life. I know people with a 16 year-old Yorkie who is blind, has no teeth, and is crippled by arthritis but they still spend thousands on the dog and have for the past 3-4 years. I'd rather have healthy dogs that die at a reasonable age.

Oh most definately! Im with you on that one! just keeping a dog alive and spedning thousands on a dog that could very well not enjoy not having teeth or being able to see things, along with what could be other problems not so obvious is just mean! A healthy dog is (most of the time) a happy dog, i would take quality of life over quantity anyday!

**timlewis** · 09-29-2006, 09:26 PM

I Hope If My Teeth Fall Out And I Go Blind My Wife Doesnt Hope I Die Soon. Lololol

**coco-bean** · 09-29-2006, 09:27 PM

haha, i didnt mean it like that! haha!!

**Catlady711** · 09-30-2006, 01:03 AM

Not meaning to get anyone's fur up or anything here, however at the hospital I work for....

Not all vets are given perks by pet food companies or even sell regular pet food. At our hospital we ONLY carry the more common prescription only foods. Head vet says that if he wanted to run a pet food store he would have bought a pet food store! He doesn't think too highly of other vets that carry numberous brands of non prescription foods, as well as tons of toys/treats. The profit margin vs. space/inventory just isn't worth the trouble, as well as the fact that people are more likely to take his advice concerning nutrition if they realize he is not making any money on the sale of the pet foods he recommends.

I don't know about other vets, but at our hospital keeping up with the latest seminars and such on pet nutrition is a routine thing. Head vet prefers to attend the ones hosted by independent companies that aren't trying to 'push' their own product with skewed statistics.

As for our hospital's stance on pet food in general is:

Stick with major name brands, not generic store brands (you get what you pay for) We will typically recommend foods like Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, Nutro, etc. We never push for any particular one of these, just that they feed a high quality, well balanced diet.

Stay away from foods with dyes (particularly reds/greens) as they can sometimes cause allergies in the form of skin problems or cause stomach upset in some animals. If I'm not much mistaken Beneful is full of dyes like this.

Sudden changes in food can sometimes cause diarrhea or vomiting. We always recommend staying with one food unless there is a medical reason to switch, and then make the switch gradually over a period of a few days. While some animals may take a sudden switch well and others may not, switching foods exposes the animal to more things which makes it more difficult to track down any food allergies. Also most allergies to food can take a few years to show up from repeated exposure, and any benefits from switching to a low allergy food can take up to 3 months to show.

As for dogs eating poop..Sometimes it is simply a bad habit, however it can also be because of a lack of specific digestive enzymes. A simple test at your vet can determine this, and the remedy is a simple, fairly inexpensive pill (at least at our hospital) given daily.

While I have only been a vet assistant for just over 5 years, our head vet has been in practice over 30 years.

Just my comments.